Fairy Tail Alternate Paths
by Awareness Bringer
Summary: What if scenarios for Natsu Dragneel's upbringing. Can be seen as up for grabs, they are rated T to be safe, and please review constructively.
1. Lord of the Draconic Phantasms

**Consider these the Fairy Tail version of my Dragon Ball Alternate Paths which are meant to depict the beginning of a different upbringing for the main character whether it's Natsu Dragneel/E.N.D. in the former or Goku/Kakarot in the latter. These different upbringings are also up for grabs, if you must know. While I had thought of writing a lot by own my hand, I'm more than happy with seeing others take their own shots at them. Just give me a response when you feel like working.**

 **Before I start, allow me to say that for a lot of these to work, I will be using the concept featured in Fairy's Shelter on FFN which reasoned that if something went wrong with Layla Heartfilia's Eclipse Gate opening, one to all five of the First Generation Dragon Slayers could've ended up before or after that time from Fairy Tail Zerø to X784, or anywhere in between. If anyone is worried about Natsu and company aging with the times on the chance they came before Fairy Tail was founded, I'd recommend that they all stop aging once their young adulthood kicks in due to spacetime reasons and by the time July 7, X777 rolls around, the five are regressed into children to turn into teens again by X784. At least, that's what I'm thinking. Just let me know what you all think.**

 **Here are the guidelines and disclaimer.**

 **No unnecessary bashing: seeing characters grow up and show hidden strengths is all good until it looks like the writer is purposefully making the character in question look like an unlikable nuisance at best and a complete villain at worst. Trust me, it's best to show both the positives and negatives of those in a story. I know it might not be easy for those that pulled off some bad acts in canon (Jellal among others), but giving them the benefit of the doubt would be a fair sign.**

 **No slash: I try not to judge people who have different "bonding" preferences compared to mine, but I really don't think that characters that weren't listed as canonically yaoi in nature should be depicted as such. Not that I like gender bending much either.**

 **Keep the content at a controlled level: meaning that it's probably best to be mindful of which direction the story/stories will go. I like straight lemons as much as the next fellow, but given how things all are iffy on certain websites like FFN, it would probably be wise to just walk first before jumping.**

 **Don't shy away from asking me for advice or beta reading: however, I won't dictate your execution as it should ultimately be your decision. I'm doing fine with it so far with digemsmack over his Fairy Tail story which I gave my patronage for, Ascension of the Second Apocalypse, even though I haven't heard from him in quite a long time.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or any of its associated characters and lore. That right belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 **[FTAP]**

 **Fairy Tail Alternate Paths**

 **[FTAP]**

 **Lord of the Draconic Phantasms**

 **[FTAP]**

 **Magnolia Town, Fiore, Ishgar, Earth Land, April of X686**

Observing the opening of the Fairy Tail Guild Building from afar, Geoffrey, final Guild Master of the now defunct Blue Skull Dark Mages, watched with a scowl as Mavis Vermillion and her friends celebrated their founding. By his side, was a young man with pink hair in equally dark clothing who regarded the Legal Mages more neutrally. The teenager in question was the only other Mage of Blue Skull to escape with him and had continued to stay under Geoffrey's watch. Not out of genuine loyalty, but because Geoffrey's Magic forced the young Dragon Slayer into obeying his every order as he had been for almost seven years.

"Fairy Tail?" Geoffrey asked himself rhetorically before scoffing as he directed his teenaged protégé away from Magnolia. "What a load of idealistic hogwash. That Mavis brat is an embarrassment to the very title of "Guild Masters" and to all Guild Masters everywhere." Hearing an amused chuckle from the pink haired lad, Geoffrey glared viciously at him. "What? Is something funny, Dragneel?"

The young man answered back with a mocking tone. "Oh, nothing, Master Geoffrey. I just find the thought that four inexperienced Mages were able to beat an accomplished Master as yourself very funny, even now."

Having no desire for the orphaned brat to continue mocking him, Geoffrey used his magic to induce pain in the person in question to the point that he collapsed on the ground. Placing his leg on the kid's torso, Geoffrey arrogantly asked. "You were saying, Natsu?"

Grunting through the pain, Natsu eventually said. "What's the plan now, Master?"

Smirking at his downcast subject, Geoffrey replied. "We shall lay the groundwork for a new guild, one I will call Phantom Lord, and which will one day upstage Fairy Tail once and for all."

Getting back on his feet, Natsu thought about Geoffrey's words before asking. "I take it you have a good purpose behind separating the new guild from the old one?"

"Correct, Natsu. Fiore's political climate is tense right now. All we need do is wait for an inevitable war and seize the opportunity to present ourselves favorably to the Magic Council in order to become Legal Mages and legally compete with Fairy Tail without being branded as criminals."

Natsu couldn't help but scoff at that. "And if the Council outlaws inter-Guild fights from that point on?"

Geoffrey merely shrugged. "Then Phantom Lord will bide it's time. I will gladly train and indoctrinate my descendants to continue the fight, even when I am gone." He then turned to Natsu with a sneer. "And you, my Dragon Slayer, will ensure that one day, Phantom Lord is victorious when my descendants aren't able to get the job done right."

Natsu glared at Geoffrey before nodding in obedience and saying. "Understood." Internally, he thought, however. 'But I will find a way to free myself, even if it takes a hundred years.'

It wasn't like he chose to be Blue Skull's pawn, after all. When he woke up in X679 without Igneel one morning, Natsu went off to find any word about Dragons which was when he learned of a guild that possessed a Dragon skeleton and had been in a recent conflict with another guild that seemed to have been inspired by Dragons, given its name of Red Lizard. Unfortunately, he didn't expect that Geoffrey would magically bind him to his will, and that for some reason, it was predicted that he'll stop aging after nineteen. Nonetheless, Natsu hadn't given up in freeing himself from the wills of others, no matter what it took, or how long.

 **[FTAP]**

 **Took some time, but it was worth it. Originally, I planned to make something like this as one of my own stories, but I think I'm busy enough as is with just three stories for both Natsu Dragneel and Natsu Dragion each. Yes, I typed in three for each because I've decided to remove the one that would've had Natsu become a member of Crime Sorcière as well as it's Edo version, considering I'll be busy enough with one Neutral Natsu story, one Dark Natsu story, and one Light Natsu story for both Earth Land and Edolas. However, I'll let you know if an associate of mine on FFN writes down that particular idea I was thinking of.**

 **See you soon.**


	2. A Dragon's Need to Keep Up

**[FTAP]**

 **A Dragon's Need to Keep Up**

 **[FTAP]**

 **Outside of Hargeon Town, Fiore, Ishgar, Earth Land, July 2, X784**

'This is just terrible.' Lucy Heartfilia thought to herself despairingly, considering she had to run as far away as she could from the Rune Knights with the same wild child that got her into so much trouble in the first place.

Earlier in the day, she was just looking for directions to the Fairy Tail Guild when she was hoodwinked along with a lot of other women in Hargeon by a pompous con artist who planned to brand them all as "merchandise" in Bosco's slave market. Thankfully, before they could brand anyone, a pink-haired boy of all things fell from the sky, and in spite of the weird case of motion sickness he had on the ship as well as his young age, he was able to fight off Bora and his thugs with a Lost Magic he called Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Not wanting to feel left out, Lucy took out her Celestial Spirit Keys and helped out as well. Unfortunately, the two Mages more or less took it too far in terms of public damage which attracted the Rune Knights and before Lucy could figure out what to do, the boy grabbed her by the arm and prompted her to run with him.

Once they were out of Hargeon, they stopped for a bit to catch their breath followed by the boy showing a toothy grin at her. "That was a great fight, Anna! I don't know why I fell from the sky, but I'm glad you're here." He then appeared curious. "But where's Igneel and the others?"

Although she had half a mind to berate him for roping her into practically becoming criminals on the run, Lucy was more curious herself. "Who's Igneel and Anna?" She asked finally.

Now the kid looked stumped, but before he could ask questions of his own, he decided to sniff Lucy over which made her uncomfortable until he stopped with a gasp. "You kind of look and smell like Anna, but you're not her exactly. Are you from that Heartfilia Clan of hers?"

Lucy's eyes widened and couldn't restrain an exclamation. "You know about my last name?!"

After that outburst, they fell into a long discussion that led to Lucy learning about the existence of Dragons and relatives of hers she hadn't known of before just as she told the kid, Natsu Dragneel, about her own troubles with her father. Once they both concluded, Natsu decided to help Lucy out with her estranged father and in turn, Lucy promised to help him in settling in the greater world.

 **[FTAP]**

 **Originally, I thought about making this a challenge story in the likes of the earlier parts of Dragon Ball and Naruto, if you know what I mean, but decided to make it an Alternate Path for good measure. Since Natsu starts as a ten-year-old here, I was thinking his love interests would be either Sherria, Yukino, or a non-Fairy Sphered Wendy among other female characters that would be applicable. Trust me, I like Lucy, and I have nothing against the yaoi fans, but there should be more stories where Natsu is paired with a female character that fits the story, which doesn't always have to be Lucy. I have quotes on my FFN profile that fit my thoughts perfectly, so to speak.**


	3. The First and Present Master

**[FTAP]**

 **The First and Present Master**

 **[FTAP]**

 **Fairy Tail Guild Building, Magnolia Town, Fiore, Ishgar, Earth Land, July 4, X784**

"Woah, woah, woah!" Lucy, the newest member of the Fairy Tail Guild couldn't help but exclaim when her new guildmembers started to refer to the somewhat reckless Dragon Slayer who brought her into Fairy Tail as their Guild Master. "Natsu's your Guild Master?!"

The silence lasted for a brief moment before everyone but her started to laugh uproariously which took a full minute before everyone stopped to pay attention to her again.

"Sorry that Happy and I didn't tell you, Lucy." Natsu said first before adding. "But your over the top reaction was worth the wait!" Lucy fumed as everyone else laughed crazily once more for another minute before Natsu coughed into his hand and spoke more seriously. "Perhaps it's best that we tell you the tale of how this Guild came to be."

And with jobs being in short supply, the members of Fairy Tail told Lucy the story of how Natsu was one of the founding members of their Guild who hadn't aged at all for ninety-three years until seven years previously due to some Time Magic that not even the Magic Council could unravel. And yet, despite his youthful and short exterior, Natsu held enough strength and heart to be voted in as the first Guild Master and had kept that position throughout the years.

"That's probably the craziest story I've ever heard." Lucy couldn't help but say.

Natsu chuckled. "Trust me. I lived it."

 **[FTAP]**

 **Had this thought in mind for a long while, and it seemed fitting since I intend to conclude Fairy Tail Alternate Paths. Have other things to do, you know.**

 **By the way, sorry it took me a long while to get back to this. Writing about multiple fandoms isn't easy, that's for sure. Anyway, I just want you all to know that with this update as well as my others for Dragon Ball Alternate Paths, Fairy Tail Alternate Paths, and Possibilities for Sonic Chronicles, I'll be taking a long break from writing about one-shots and challenge stories, so that I can focus on longer story writing, regardless of the length. I'll also be posting my stuff on Ko-fi a month before I do so on FanfictionNet, DeviantArt, and Archive of Our Own, so if you want, you're more than welcome to be on the lookout.**


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